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Butorides virescens

(Little green heron)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Dutch:

Groene Reiger

Common Names in English:

chalk-line, Chucklehead, crab-catcher, fly-up-the-creek, green bittern, green heron, Little green heron, Poke, shitepoke, skeow, skow, swamp squaggin

Common Names in French:

héron vert, héron vert

Common Names in German:

Grünreiher

Common Names in Italian:

Airone verde

Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:

本氏銼甲鯰

Common Names in Russian:

Кваква зеленоспинная

Common Names in Spanish:

Garceta verde, Garcita Verdosa, Garcita verdosau

Common Names in Swedish:

Lotushäger

Description

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Physical Description

Adult : Head : Cap: dark Color: chestnut Bill: brownish yellow Shape : thin Neck: chestnut Body: Back: blue-green Legs : Leg Color: orange.

Color:

The back and wings of the adult are blue-gray. The belly, front of the neck, and chin are white. The back and sides of the neck and the sides of the head are chestnut. The top of the head is greenish-black. On the adult, the legs are orange and the bill is dark. Immature birds are duller in color, with a streaked neck and yellow legs.

Size/Age/Growth

About 18 to 22 inches long, with a wingspan of 26 to 26 inches. Adults weigh about 7.5 ounces .

Habitat

Nesting occurs in areas that are also used for feeding habitats , such as ponds , rivers , lakes , marshes, and mangroves .

Vegetation: freshwater lakes and ponds, freshwater marshes, rivers, streams, tropical lowland evergreen forest, mangrove forests • Maximum Elevation: 1,850 meters • Foraging Strata: Water • Center of Abundance: Lower tropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; tropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbance: Low

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,911 meters (0 to 9,551 feet).[1]

Ecology: List of Habitats :

[more info]

Biology

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Diet

This little heron forages either by standing in the water, by sitting on a very low perch over the water to watch and wait for prey to come by, or by stalking its prey. Food items include fish, insects, invertebrates , and amphibians .

Reproduction

The breeding season occurs from late March to late July, with a peak from mid-April to late May. The male and female build a platform-style nest of sticks and twigs in shrubs or small trees close to or over the water. The female lays from 2-7 (usually 2-4) eggs , which both she and the male incubate for 21-25 days. The young are semi-altricial and fledge from the nest 35-35 days after hatching . The adults take care of the young for approximately a month after they fledge. Then the young birds become independent .

Green Herons are solitary nesters and do not nest in rookeries like many other species of herons.

Migration

Some migrate

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Butorides virescens (Linnaeus, 1758)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Similar Species

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Little Blue Heron

Members of the genus Butorides

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 8 species and subspecies in this genus:

B. striata (Green-Backed Heron) · B. striatus (Anthony's Green Heron) · B. striatus striatus (Anthony's Green Heron) · B. sundevalli (Galapagos Heron) · B. virescens (Little Green Heron) · B. virescens anthonyi (Green Heron) · B. virescens frazari (Green Heron) · B. virescens virescens (Green Heron)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 09, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = 28.860 meters (94.685 feet), Standard Deviation = 45.130 based on 136,186 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-14